Bible Strands
Colossians 3:4
When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Paul writes to the Colossian church, positioning this verse between the statement that their life is hidden with Christ (v. 3) and the command to put to death earthly nature (v. 5). It is the pivot: the future appearing is the ground for present ethical conduct.
The words — φανερωθῆ (phanerōthē), aorist passive subjunctive of φανερώνω, means "may be made manifest"; the passive voice stresses that Christ's appearing is an act done to him, not a self-display. ζωὴ (zōē) is the qualitative, divine kind of life, not bios (biological existence), and it is identified as belonging to Christ himself.
The thread — 1 John 3:2 states the same sequence in reverse emphasis: "when Christ appears, we shall be like him." Galatians 2:20 supplies the present-tense counterpart — "I no longer live, but Christ lives in me" — which is the hidden life Paul affirms in v. 3.
Why it lands — It demands that a reader's daily choices be governed by the certainty of the appearing, not by the comfort of the present. The verse removes the option of treating the hidden life as a private, unaccountable state.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
Cross-references
- John 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies.
- 1 John 3:2 Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is.
- Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
- 1 Peter 1:13 Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober-minded. Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
- Philippians 3:21 who, by the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself, will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body.
- John 17:24 Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am, that they may see the glory You gave Me because You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
- 1 Peter 5:4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.
- Revelation 22:14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by its gates.
- 2 Thessalonians 1:10 on the day He comes to be glorified in His saints and regarded with wonder by all who have believed, including you who have believed our testimony.
- Hebrews 9:28 so also Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him.